Test of Faith - [Sisters of Battle vs. Grey Knights]

Last weekend, my friend Clyde_Frosch came over and we played two games of 40k with 1,750 points each. He used his Grey Knights, while I played my Sisters of Battle. Here is an attempt to describe the events in an atmospheric way:

Virellia Secundus was burning.

Warp storms had torn open the sky, and legions of Chaos poured out of the bleeding rifts.
The invasion was led by a Daemon Prince of Khorne, a winged nightmare of brass and fury. Carnage was everywhere.

When all hope seemed lost, two armies of the Imperium arrived almost simultaneously.

Space Marines of the Grey Knights Order materialised out of nowhere. Silver giants, their armour covered in runes, their blades imbued with the cold light of the warp.

A few hours later, the forces of the Adepta Sororitas from the Order of the Sacred Rose landed.
White armour with red roses, flaming banners and unwavering faith in the Emperor promised hope.

The Sororitas held the cathedral cities, singing hymns amid the thunder of bolters and letting the holy flames of their flamethrowers purify the demons. The Grey Knights teleported directly into the heart of the warp spawn, shattering Bloodhounds and Fleshteachers with psi-enhanced blows.

Where the Sisters stood, faith burned.
Where the Grey Knights struck, the warp fell silent.

Together, they advanced to the main shrine of Virellia – a cathedral whose foundations were already half submerged in the Immaterium. There, the Daemon Prince manifested in full size.

The battle lasted three days. 

Finally, steel and faith united: while the Canoness of the Sacred Rose led the final assault, the Grand Master of the Grey Knights carved an ancient sigil into the stone altar. Amidst thunderous prayers and a psionic storm, the demon was banished – its scream tearing through the cloud cover.

The invasion was broken. But victory brought no sense of triumph.

The Grey Knights are more than just Space Marines. They are the last line of defence against the Warp – and their existence is a closely guarded secret. Anyone who knows too much about them is a risk.

The sisters had seen too much.

They had heard demon names.
They had observed rituals.
They had seen warp energy flowing through the veins of the silver warriors.

For the Grey Knights, knowledge meant contamination.

For the Sororitas, knowledge meant testing of faith. The Grand Master coolly announced what he believed was necessary: Virellia must be "cleansed." All Imperial forces on site were suspected of being warp-tainted.

The Canoness of the Order disagreed. Her sisters had fought with pure faith. No stain had touched their souls.

Teleportation flashes tore through the night. Psycannons crashed through white armour. The Sororitas fought back, not out of heresy, but out of conviction that their faith was stronger than any accusation. Flames met Nemesis blades. Prayers met banishing psalms.

The first decisive battle raged in the ruins of the Sanctum Helior macropolis region.
Three strategic positions determined control of the entire planet.

Every advance cost blood – on both sides – but the sisters did not retreat a single step.
When the dust storms of the sixth hour subsided, the Sororitas held two of the three key positions.
According to Imperial doctrine, this meant that the planet was effectively under their control.
The Grey Knights withdrew in an orderly fashion. The Sisters had achieved their first strategic victory.

In a ruined cathedral in Sanctum Helior, the heart reliquary of the martyr Arabella still lay – the relic that had stood at the epicentre of the warp rift during the demon invasion.

For the Grey Knights, it was a potential artefact of contamination.
For the Sacred Rose, it was proof that purity could exist even in the eye of the storm.

The Sororitas were the first on the scene. They occupied the elevated rubble lines of former Administratum buildings, set up heavy weapon emplacements in burned-out basilica niches, and secured wide fire corridors through collapsed street axes. Their numerical superiority was clear—any approach would be met with concentrated bolter and melter fire.

When the Grey Knights appeared, it was like a thunderclap. Teleportation flashes tore through the dust storm. Terminators materialised directly between the outer defence lines. Psionic energies caused the remains of the walls to implode. Strike squads advanced with precision and relentlessness, and the battle raged.

 

The Grand Master analysed the situation — tactically and spiritually. Several psionic tests had revealed no corruption whatsoever. Phenomena that did not correspond to the warp had occurred repeatedly. No chaotic resonance. No demonic signature. Only... purity.

He looked at the ranks of sisters who, despite their losses, stood their ground, singing hymns and not retreating a single step. And he realised. If the Emperor was at work here — openly, repeatedly, unmistakably — then further bloodshed was not purity, but arrogance.

The Adeptus Terra archives are contradictory. Officially, Virellia was a victim of Chaos.
Unofficially, however, it is known that on Virellia Secundus, the faith of the Sacred Rose did not defeat demons.

It defeated doubt.

Sisters of Battle - Ecclesiarchy Battle Conclave (5th Edition)

In January, I actually took a break from painting and devoted myself to the PC game Rogue Trader, for example.

Next Saturday, my Sisters of Battle army will be back in action, and I want to focus more on Battle Conclaves. I have already used a small conclave very successfully in the past, so how effective would two full units of them be? So I've now painted a few models that have been lying around here forever: six more Flagellants, four Deathcult Assassins and six Crusaders.

 

I would like to make the following comment about the Crusaders: I have been using two classic models from GW for years, and six additional models would have been very expensive and also quite monotonous (there are only two model variants). Therefore, I combined six Eisenkern Troopers from Wargames Atlantic with 40k Bitz to get reasonably suitable alternatives. I think they will fit quite well into the overall picture of the army.

Dark Angels vs. Retro-Tyranids - Survival of the Fittest

Today, Clyde_Frosch and I got together for one last big battle this year. We played with 4,000 points each side according to the rules of the 5th edition and some house rules. I wanted to place a Hierophant at the centre of my army, and after seeing its rules, we agreed that the only mission objective should be its destruction (for the Dark Angels) or its survival (for the Tyranids).  

 

 

 

The Dark Angels got the first turn and advanced resolutely with their heavily armoured vehicles. But right at the start, the battle plan began to show cracks: a Land Raider got stuck in a crater, forcing the crew to disembark. In the ensuing shooting phase, the Dark Angels concentrated their fire on the greatest threats from the approaching swarm.
The mighty Hierophant was wounded, losing one health point, and other synapse creatures also suffered from the concentrated fire. The Tervigon and a Carnifex each lost health points, while numerous smaller Tyranids – mainly Hormagaunts – perished in the firestorm.

 

The Tyranids responded with a massive advance. But still, they would not be able to get in close combat yet. The shooting phase was disappointing: many bio-weapons missed their targets, and even the two Tyrannofexes did little damage. Only the Hierophant showed its destructive power, blowing up the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank and damaging a Land Raider Crusader.

 

  
In the second turn, the Dark Angels increased the pressure considerably. Their fire was devastating: the Tervigon was taken out, two entire Termagant squads were wiped out, and more Tyranids were injured. In close combat, one of the Carnifexes succumbed to the force of Belial and the Assault Terminators' attacks. The Alpha Trygon arrived from reserve – hope sprang up that close combat could turn the tide. The Tyranids continued to advance unabated, and the Hierophant blew up a Land Raider Crusader.

 

 

But the third turn brought disaster for the swarm. During the Dark Angels' shooting phase, the Swarm Tyrant, the second Carnifex, and the newly arrived Alpha Trygon fell. In close combat, an Assault Terminator squad charged the Hierophant. Only thanks to lucky saves from the warp field did the gigantic monster lose only one health point, while the Dark Angels lost about a third of their squad. Belial and his Hammer squad decimated the Tyranid Warriors elsewhere on the board. The Tyranid turn was weak: no reserves arrived, the firepower fizzled out, and Belial wiped out the remaining Tyranid warriors in close combat. 

 

  

 

In the fourth turn, the Dark Angels did not let up. Once again, fire rained down on the Hierophant, who lost two more life points. In close combat, a Tyrannofex fell, and the Hierophant lost more life points.
Finally, a Lictor arrived from the reserves, but was initially unable to do much. The Tyranids' fire remained ineffective. At least the Hierophant managed to completely wipe out a central Deathwing Terminator squad and recover to six life points through regeneration.

 

 

In what could be the decisive fifth turn, the Dark Angels put all their eggs in one basket. All available weapons were aimed at the Hierophant, who was brought down to two health points. Another melee attack followed. But the monster held its ground, tore off a Dreadnought's arms in return, and killed more Terminators.

 

  
Finally, more Tyranid reserves arrived: a Mycetic Spore with Zoanthropes struck, and a squad of Genestealers appeared on the left flank. The Zoanthropes' fire slightly damaged a Fellblade, while the Hierophant destroyed the Spartan and further decimated the Terminator squad in close combat. In addition, the Lictor managed to take out a Land Speeder in close combat.

The sixth and final turn did not bring any decisive change. The Fellblade was finally blown up by the combined fire of the Zoanthropes and the remaining Tyrannofex. Desperate close combat continued to rage in the centre: Hierophant against more Terminators and the damaged Dreadnought. Despite all their efforts, the Dark Angels were unable to defeat the titanic creature.

 
Conclusion

The Dark Angels inflicted massive losses on the Tyranids and dominated large parts of the battle. But the price was high, and the Hierophant survived – badly scarred, but unbroken. While the swarm can quickly compensate for its losses, the Dark Angels have lost many brave brothers and numerous irreplaceable artefacts.

We had a lot of fun, and the Hierophant was a real monster. If I had rolled the dice just a little worse, he would certainly have fallen. The Dark Angels’ strength was evident throughout most of the game, as hardly anything else remained of my troops, and they were unable to do anything at all. The Hierophant bore the brunt of the battle and saved the day for the hive mind. A true one-man army.